«Stajemy się tym, co czcimy». Idolatria źródłem wszelkiego zła

Abstract

Guidelines and norms that serve the attainment of a happy life should be sought by a Christian in the Bible. General and detailed criteria by means of which the principles of Christian morality can be found in the Bible were elaborated in 2002 by the Pontifical Biblical Commission. The basic criteria are consistency with the biblical vision of the human being and conformity with the example of Jesus. Apart from them, there are also detailed criteria that, when applied, provide for finding appropriate solutions concerning human conduct. From the entire Sacred Scripture, the Pontifical Biblical Commission derived six strong lines based on biblical revelation that allow us to reach the basic moral positions. The most important of those is explicit objection against unacceptable values (the opposition criterion) - the prohibition of idolatry (the greatest evil on account of rebellion against divine rule over creation and the temptation to take God’s place). Idolatry in a narrow sense is the prohibition of making and worshipping sculptures and pictures. We find an explanation of its essence in Tertullian, the Septuagint, the Vulgate, traditional Jewish interpretation, and in biblical authors. The commandments of the Decalogue are based on this narrow sense of idolatry. Idolatry in a broader sense means every sin which is a manifestation of disobedience to the God Yahweh, while disregard of the criterion of opposition against idolatry leads to moral degeneration (stealing, killing, adultery, bearing false witness, moral depravation, etc.). Therefore, idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Today, the phenomenon of idolatry remains a constant temptation of faith and occurs where man adores and worships a creature instead of God. It is a widespread and very dangerous phenomenon that among others breeds terrorism, drug addiction, the right to abortion, euthanasia, genetic experiments, homosexual relationships, etc. In times when man claims the right to situate himself as the creator of his own being, it becomes necessary to refer to the biblical criterion of opposition and explicit objection against unacceptable values. Faith alone is capable of overcoming them all and of bringing about the victory of the Christian conduct.